Combat
"'''Your turn.'"'' Overview Combat in Mini Empires is generally outlined by a fairly basic system in which players take turns both moving their own units and attacking enemy units, until one or more players have emerged victorious, or all players' units have backed down or otherwise been destroyed. Battles may be performed alongside any number of rules and be fought with multiple different units types, at the players' leisure, or by the server's restrictions. Types Within the typical Mini Empires server, there are generally two types of combat-oriented gameplay. These include traditional combat and roleplay-only combat. Traditional In traditional combat, two or more players engage eachothers' factions using the server's established combat rules, taking turns and both moving and attacking with their units until one side has become victorious, or all players have lost, by the elimination, surrender or retreat of all of their units. Traditional battles may be "for keeps", in which all damage inflicted, be it in units killed or structures destroyed, is permanent, or staged as simulation of combat between factions. Staged battles are popular for those wishing to practice. Roleplayed In roleplayed combat, one player (or more, if the first has consented to their participation) pits forces from one or several of his own factions against eachother with an often predetermined end outcome. Generally roleplayed battles do not follow any specific rules, with the player staging the fight choosing both the order of unit movement from all sides engaging and the effectiveness of any weapons involved. Sometimes, however, the player may opt to use the roll system in order to add some random outcome to his or her fight. Procedure A battle usually begins when an opponent role-plays one of his units attempting to impart damage onto the opponent's, with the first side to "open fire" being the one to take first-turn initiative. Once the battle has started, the first player will move and attack with all of the units he desires to do so with, each unit being able to both move and attack once per turn, until he or she has declared they are finished or can make no further moves. Afterward, the second opponent, generally the one receiving the first blows, may take their turn, again moving and attacking with each of their units. This order continues until the battle comes to an end. Rolls Most servers opt to use a roll system, in which a numbered die is used to determine damage done between units, generally with high numbers equating to higher amounts of damage done, and lower numbers indicating little to no damage. This may indicate either estimated damage, or factor into a 'health-point' system, in which the number rolled indicates the number of health points to remove from the targeted unit. On servers where a roll system is not used, there may be some other system in place to determine the outcome of attacks, such as set numbers for attack and defense values, player-to-player agreement, or an admin's decision. Additional opponents In battles where more than two combatants are participating, the order of turns will usually follow order of participation. As an example: # Player one uses his forces to attack player two's # Player two retaliates after player one's turn is over # Player three either asks or indicates that he is going to participate after player two, seizing the confusion of player one's attack to attack both of them. # After player three is done, it is player one's turn again. However, players may opt to decide on or create their own order of turns. Common examples would include a large battle becoming too confusing to follow, and the players "resetting" the initial turn order after deciding who goes when, or multiple allied factions going at once on a single turn. Modifiers In some cases, players may decide or be required to use modifiers, which can either take the form of additions or subtractions to the effectiveness of an action, generally through changing the outcome of a die-roll. Modifiers are most commonly used to determine combat efficiency of certain weapons against targets, or the effectiveness of a weapon in special circumstances, such as a firearm against an infantryman in cover. In other circumstances, roll-modifiers can factor into a unit's performance of specific duties, such as hacking an enemy terminal or defusing a bomb, if they are skilled in such fields. Common examples: * Efficiency modifiers, such as using a special weapon against its intended target or a particularly skilled unit in its field of specialty (ex. flamethrower versus infantry, technician hacking a robot) * Environment modifiers, where the area the fight is taking place in has a direct effect on combat (ex. a sniper's bullets being affected by wind, or units having extra cover behind obstacles) * Shielding and resistance-related modifiers, where the target takes less damage from the attacking opponent (ex. a soldier with a raised shield taking less damage from his attacker) ** Invulnerability modifiers also may apply, nullifying all attack damage (ex. small-arms being used against a tank) * Fatigue, morale, wounded, etc modifiers, where the status of one's forces has an effect on their combat efficiency (ex. troops shocked by an explosion doing worse against their target) Reinforcements Generally, when one is facing a situation he or she may not come out of, it is in that person's best interest to call on reinforcements - units that are not participating in active combat on the battlefield. Rules may or may not restrict the player from calling these units into action, or may require them to do it in a certain way, such as requiring the reinforcements in question to be within a certain range of the battle, or having them arrive a certain number of turns after their deployment. On some servers, reinforcements called may be limited by amount, allowing the player only a certain number of them before no more can be summoned. Support Some servers may classify indirect fire support, such as missiles fired from an off-battlefield silo, shells fired from an artillery battery, or orbital weapons, as special abilities afforded to the player, and thus place restrictions on them in order to impose balance in combat. Most servers that impose this kind of structuring often limit artillery usage to every other turn, or every three turns, while superweapons may face a limitation of one use per a full battle. Example For the reader's convenience: a short example scenario, between two sides of three troops each. Dice represented are 10-sided, each infantry unit carrying equipment including one rifle and one grenade. Note that damage determination here is represented as agreed upon by the players, and does not represent predetermined rules as to the outcome of any given die-roll. # Player one's first turn: player one moves his infantry forward, using cover afforded by a high cliff, and roleplays firing his mens' rifles down onto player two's infantry. He rolls a 5, and both players agree that one of player two's soldiers has been wounded. As he has both moved and attacked with all three units, his turn is over. # Player two's first turn: player two moves his units backwards behind some heavy boulders, one dragging the second wounded soldier into cover while the third provides suppression on player one's forces. Player two rolls an eight, scoring a critical hit and killing one of player one's men. As two of his soldiers are occupied and one has moved and fired, he states that he is ending his turn. # Player one's second turn: As player two's soldiers are now in cover, player one's attacks will be less effective from his position. He moves his men down the cliff via climbing tethers, but upon reaching the bottom, player two's soldiers, who lie in wait for him, fire reaction shots. Player two '''rolls a three, scoring minimum damage on player '''one's remaining two men. Player one then roleplays one of his men throwing a grenade behind the rocks player two hides behind, rolling a 7 and killing both the injured soldier and the one who dragged him into cover. Player one '''then uses his other two soldiers to suppress player '''two's, and ends his turn with all units having went. # Player two's second turn: As player two only has one remaining soldier, he decides to throw a grenade at player one's two men (the effectiveness of his rifle being lessened due to suppression), rolling a 5 and critically injuring one of them, also breaking suppression by dazing both. Player two then retreats from the battle, running his soldier away from the fight and at the same time ending his turn. Player one simply decides not to chase after or shoot at him, and both sides agree that the fight is over. Category:Metagame